REGINA — The Canadian Taxpayer Federation (CTF) has called on the Regina Public Library (RPL) to discontinue its writer-in-residence program.
In a news release, the CTF claimed the RPL is asking families to pay more money to help established authors with their own projects.
Tanya Rogoschewsky, director of community engagement at the RPL, said the news release came out of nowhere.
“I think I was surprised because the writer-in-residence program is a very longstanding program at Regina Public Library, and it follows a standard residency model.”
Since the 1970s, the RPL has chosen an established author each year with a background in helping mentor writers.
“We want to know that the writer-in-residence that we have has both been actively practicing and has understood the writing process and the publishing process, but also has a history of mentoring new writers and providing that evaluation and criticism support,” said Rogoschewsky.
Each author is required to spend a minimum of 16 hours weekly consulting with writers, hosting workshops and attending schools on behalf of the RPL. Authors who meet the weekly requirements are free to also work on their own personal projects as part of the program.
However, the CTF opposed the use of $68,444 in public funds between 2024 and 2025 for a project that would support a writer who has already published dozens of novels.
“Twenty novels in, this author doesn’t need Regina taxpayers footing the bill for their next one,” said Gage Haubrich, CTF Prairie director in the report.
In response, Rogoschewsky said a standard residency is supposed to provide a maximum benefit for all sides.
“It does benefit the writer in that they do have some time to work on projects. It also benefits the Regina writing community and anyone who is interested in becoming a writer because it gives them access to that expertise that they would otherwise probably not be able to afford or not know how to access."
Rogoschewsky noted that upwards of 200 people yearly access the program through consultations alone, with different types of inquiries.
"We see people coming in with just a very vague idea and an interest in writing to people who have full manuscripts that want to know how they go through publishing and querying.”
As part of its critique, the CTF also pointed to a decline in program consultations at the RPL over the years.
In 2024–25, the program averaged 15 consultations per month, compared with 7.8 per month in 2025–26, according to CTF.
However, according to the RPL, this information doesn’t paint the entire picture.
“The writer-in-residence that we engaged in September of 2025 had to step away from the role for personal reasons. And so there was actually a gap this year. And then the current writer-in-residence started on January 19,” said Rogoschewsky.
Despite a call to halt the program, the RPL has no intention to end it anytime soon.
Instead, they insist on remaining fiscally responsible when using taxpayer dollars.
“The library takes its financial position very seriously, [and] we regularly review all of our programs,” noted Rogoschewsky.
